Man lucky to be alive after being shot in heart with nail gun at mattress plant

A New Zealand worker has been given $14,000 in reparations after a colleague accidentally shot him in the heart with a nail gun.

The man was working at Sleepwell NZ Ltd, which makes mattresses and bed bases in south Auckland, when the incident happened.

In September 2019, another worker went to free a coil hose that connected his nail gun to the air supply line when the trigger was engaged, and the gun recoiled, firing a nail into the chest of the worker who was walking behind him, according to WorkSafe.

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The nail was lodged in the man's heart and had to be surgically removed.

He was unable to return to work for three months.

WorkSafe area manager Danielle Henry said the man was lucky to be alive after the incident.

"His ordeal could've been avoided if Sleepwell had adequately identified the risks of using nail guns and implemented clearly marked exclusion zones – areas out of bounds to other workers.

"There was a real risk that other workers could come into contact with an operator's nail gun, and that's exactly what happened, clear exclusion zones should've been marked out around work-stations where nail guns were in use."

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During the WorkSafe investigation a number of other issues were found at the Sleepwell factory, Ms Henry said.

"Nail guns weren't regularly checked to ensure they were fit for purpose, and workers were not being adequately trained."

Sleepwell appeared in the Manukau District Court on March 29, and was fined NZ$250,000 ($233,000), as well as being ordered to pay reparation of NZ$15,000 ($14,000) to the victim.